The
Federation Council on 17 March voted 142 to six to reject
the resignation of Prosecutor-General Yurii Skuratov.
Skuratov tendered his resignation on 1 February, citing
health reasons, but in his speech to the parliament's upper
chamber the same day, he said that "various powerful
forces" "have driven a wedge between himself and Russian
President Boris Yeltsin." Among those forces he named two
former deputy prime ministers, several current ministers
and State Duma deputies, and "well known oligarchs." He
added that "information about my private life was used,"
having been "obtained by criminal means." "Kommersant-
Daily" reported the same day that "a cassette of Skuratov's
'sexual adventures' is in the hands of the leaders of all
Russia's TV channels," and Duma Chairman Gennadii Seleznev
confirmed that there have been "direct threats from the
mass media" to reveal information about Skuratov. Skuratov
told the senators that he will agree to stay on in his
position only if President Yeltsin concurs. JAC

START-II RATIFICATION LINKED TO ABM TREATY

Speaking on
Russian Public Television on 16 March, Prime Minister
Yevgenii Primakov said that if the Duma does not ratify
START-II, then the U.S. will likely abandon the anti-
ballistic missile treaty. In the face of such a withdrawal,
according to Primakov, Russia will "have to think about a
completely new military situation that would require an arms
race." Meanwhile, Geopolitics Committee chairman and member
of the Liberal Democratic Party faction Aleksei Mitrofanov
told reporters the same day that he believes the Duma will
ratify the treaty in the near future. Liberal Democratic
Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovskii earlier spoke out against
the treaty. JAC

PROGRESS MADE ON POLITICAL ACCORD

Members of Russia's
various political branches tentatively lent their support on
16 March to the current draft of the political peace treaty.
Presidential administration deputy head Oleg Sysuev,
Federation Council Deputy Chairman Oleg Korolev, and Duma
deputy and head of the Russian Regions faction Oleg Morozov
all initialed the nine-point statement (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 16 March 1999). In addition, representatives of
four groups in the Duma also signed the draft statement,
which still has to be debated and approved by the Duma and
Federation Council. According to "Kommersant-Daily" the same
day, agreement was possible after Duma representatives backed
the Kremlin's formulation that a working group be formed to
examine whether the constitution should be amended rather
than stipulating that the working group draft those
amendments. JAC

PRIMAKOV COMMENTS ON U.S.-RUSSIAN RELATIONS...

Prime
Minister Primakov assessed U.S.-Russian economic relations
on 17 March as "undoubtedly changing for the better but too
slowly." Regarding his visit to Washington next week,
Primakov said his preparations for the Gore-Primakov
commission are focusing on two issues: how "to reorient the
commission's work to provide real assistance to the
solution of problems faced by Russia" and [how to] clear
away "logjams and unresolved problems that have accumulated
during the commission's existence," ITAR-TASS reported.
Interfax reported the same day that Agriculture and Food
Minister Viktor Semenov will not be attending the
agricultural business committee meetings of the commission
and that "sources" have linked his absence with the
"possibility of pending dismissal." The agency also noted
that Semenov did not speak at a national farmers meeting in
February and that Deputy Prime Minister Gennadii Kulik has
expressed dissatisfaction with the ministry's preparations
for the spring sowing. JAC

...AS HIS UPCOMING U.S. VISIT PREDICTED TO BE PIVOTAL

In
the March issue of "Vek," Sergei Rogov, director of the
U.S.A.-Canada Institute writes that the preparations for
the commission meeting are taking place "against a backdrop
of unprecedented pressure" and that the two countries are
"poles apart on many international issues." The meeting
itself may mark a turning point in the development of U.S.-
Russian relations, he writes, as Washington must decide
whether to "make corrections in its policy and stop
dictating solutions to Moscow or apply even more pressure."
JAC

ALBRIGHT DOESN'T WANT LUZHKOV TO VISIT U.S.?

Moscow Deputy
Mayor Sergei Yastrzhembskii on 16 March discounted reports
that U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright allegedly
recommended that the Clinton administration seek to
distance itself from Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov to avoid
strengthening the latter's internal political position,
Interfax reported. He said that U.S. officials "tell us
just the opposite. They intend to broaden and deepen the
dialogue with [Luzhkov] as a leading Russian politician."
The same day, "Moskovskii komsomolets," which is close to
Luzhkov, reported that information has reached "journalists
who circulate around the U.S. State Department" that
Albright believes Luzhkov is the "only politician in Russia
capable of uniting the country around him." However, the
newspaper comments, the U.S. should not contribute to
strengthening his position or be in any hurry to have him
visit the U.S. JAC

ROSTOV REFUSES TO INVESTIGATE MAKASHOV...

Rostov Oblast
Prosecutor-General Sergei Ustinov declined to take action
against Duma deputy and member of the Communist Party
Albert Makashov for his anti-Semitic comments on 20
February in Novocherkassk. During his speech at a meeting
of the Movement for the Support of the Army, Makashov
suggested transforming the group into a "Movement against
Yids." Ustinov told "Kommersant-Daily" on 16 March there is
some ambiguity connected with Makashov's use of the word
"zhid" since it was used in Pushkin's time to refer to
plunderers and money-grubbers and therefore, it cannot
necessarily be proven that Makashov knowingly intended to
incite ethnic hatred. The Russian Jewish Congress,
responding to the local prosecutor's decision, said
Makashov was expressing anti-Semitic views with the tacit
approval of the leadership of the Communist Party, AP
reported. JAC

...INVITES HIM TO RUN FOR GOVERNOR

An aide to Makashov,
Valerii Tulyakov, told ITAR-TASS that four oblasts--
Sverdlovsk, Rostov, Samara, and Orenburg--have invited
Makashov to run for governor in their regions. "Novye
izvestiya" reported earlier that Makashov plans to run for
governor in Novosibirsk (see "RFE/RL Russian Federation
Report, 3 March 1999), but Tulyakov said that Makashov has
no intention of running for governor anywhere. According to
Tulyakov, Makashov said "I am not an expert in sewage
systems." JAC

MASLYUKOV ENDS VISIT TO JAPAN...

First Deputy Prime Minister
Yurii Maslyukov left Japan on 17 March after a three-day
visit, Russian media reported. On 16 March, he attended the
fourth session of the bilateral subcommission on economic
affairs that discussed Japanese participation in six energy
and mining projects in Russia's Far East. Earlier, Maslyukov
had discussed Japan's extension to Russia of a $2 billion
loan for ecological purposes. Japan had originally said it
would provide the money to convert coal-burning power plants
into gas-fuelled ones in the Far East. Some Japanese
officials, pointing out that such loans are given to
developing countries, recently questioned Russia's
eligibility for such monies. Japanese officials said several
times during Maslyukov's visit that the delay in granting
that loan is not connected to the issue of the four Kuril
Islands. BP

...AFTER MEETING WITH TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

On 15
March, Maslyukov met with Japanese Prime Minister Keidzo
Obuchi, who said he hopes that bilateral economic relations
will continue to develop and that the two countries will
sign by 2000 a treaty officially ending World War II and
including an agreement on the disputed Kuril Islands.
Maslyukov met with Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko
Komura the same day and signed an agreement allowing 1,000
Russian students to attend Japanese universities each year
at the Japanese government's expense. Komura commented the
following day on Russian concerns about the Theater Defense
Missile system Tokyo and Washington plan to establish in
the Asian Pacific region, saying he understands Russia's
unease but stressing that the system is purely defensive.
BP

ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WRAPS UP MOSCOW VISIT

Lamberto
Dini wrapped up a two-day official visit to Moscow on 16
March. At his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov, the two officials discussed the Kosova situation
and bilateral cooperation issues such as Italian
participation in the elimination of Russia's chemical
weapon stockpile, AP reported. Foreign Ministry spokesman
Vladimir Rakhmanin said that both officials agreed that
they favor "the attainment of the earliest possible
agreement on the Kosova political accord drafted by the
Contact Group." Dini also met with First Deputy Prime
Minister Vadim Gustov, with whom he discussed bilateral
issues and various schemes for rescheduling Russia's
foreign debt. JAC

PRIMORSKII KRAI HIT BY NEW ELECTION SCANDAL

Representatives
of the political movement Young Nakhodka will be struck off
of the roster of candidates for the Nakhodka city council in
elections scheduled for 28 March because its candidates were
illegally registered, ITAR-TASS reported on 17 March. The
group plans to protest the decision of the Primorskii Krai
election commission. JAC

CHECHENS RALLY TO SUPPORT PRESIDENT

Addressing a crowd of
30,000- 50,00 people who gathered in Grozny's central square
in pouring rain on 16 March, Chechen President Aslan
Maskhadov acknowledged he is ready for the "maximum
compromise" with Moscow but added he will never cede
Chechnya's independence, AP and ITAR-TASS reported. Maskhadov
blamed tensions within Chechnya on his political opponents,
accusing former Premier Shamil Basaev and former Foreign
Minister Movladi Udugov of seeking with the help of foreign
support to promote anarchy in order to seize power. LF

NEW THEORIES ON KHOTTAB, SHPIGUN ABDUCTION

ITAR-TASS on 16
March quoted unnamed senior Chechen officials as stating that
the alleged abduction on 13 March of three members of
opposition field commander Khottab's family was staged by
Basaev in order to deflect attention from the seizing of
Russian Interior Ministry General Gennadii Shpigun. Russian
Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin told Interfax on 16 March
that his ministry has begun receiving "hints" that Shpigun's
abductors might ransom him, adding that Moscow will not pay
for his release. LF

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PROPOSES NEW REGIONAL ORGANIZATION

Speaking on 15 March at the Royal Institute of International
Affairs in London, Vartan Oskanian said that the absence of
an all-encompassing regional organization for the Caucasus
contributes to destabilization in the region, an RFE/RL
correspondent in the British capital reported. Oskanian said
such an organization should bring together Russia, Iran,
Turkey, the South Caucasus, and the Central Asia states and
serve as a forum for the discussion of problems and
consensus-building. In Yerevan, presidential press secretary
Vahe Gabrielian on 16 March hailed Iran's recent offer to
mediate in the Karabakh conflict but made it clear that
Armenia gives priority to the ongoing OSCE mediation effort,
Noyan Tapan reported. LF

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, PARLIAMENT ON COLLISION COURSE OVER
ENERGY PRICES

Presidential press secretary Gabrielian said
on 16 March that President Robert Kocharian will veto a
parliament bill to reduce electricity tariffs if lawmakers
pass it in the second and final reading, RFE/RL's Yerevan
bureau reported. Deputies voted in favor of the bill in the
first reading the previous day, after Kocharian had met with
representatives of the Yerkrapah parliamentary group, the
largest in the legislature, to try to persuade them to
prevent passage of the bill. Gabrielian failed to specify
what steps Kocharian will take if the parliament overrides
his veto, which it can do by a simple majority. AFP on 16
March quoted an Armenian government spokesman as repeating
opposition to the parliament's proposal to reduce energy
tariffs, which, the spokesman said, would worsen the economic
situation and lead to a fall in tax revenues and foreign
investment. LF

TRANSCAUCASUS PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMEN MEET

Meeting in
Strasbourg on 15 March under the aegis of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe, Khosrov Harutiunian,
Murtuz Alesqerov, and Zurab Zhania adopted a declaration
affirming their support for inter-parliamentary dialogue as a
means of promoting regional cooperation and understanding,
Noyan Tapan reported. "Rezonansi" on 15 March quoted Georgian
parliamentary speaker Zhvania as saying that the acceptance
of Armenia and Azerbaijan into full membership of the Council
of Europe is contingent on a solution to the Karabakh
conflict, according to Turan. LF

The opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party
issued a statement on 16 March saying that the 11 March
European Parliament resolution endorsing the efforts of the
OSCE Minsk Group to mediate a settlement of the Karabakh
conflict is "unfair," Turan reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
12 March 1999). The statement attributed the adoption of the
resolution to unspecified "unilateral concessions" on the
part of the Azerbaijani leadership. State Foreign Policy
Adviser Vafa Guluzade dismissed the resolution as
"declarative," noting that it failed to specify precisely
which of the Minsk Group's various peace proposals it
supports. Also on 16 March, first deputy parliamentary
speaker Arif Ragimzade turned down a request by Azerbaijan
Popular Front Party First Deputy Chairman Ali Kerimov to
schedule a debate on the resolution, saying he has not had a
chance to read it. LF

AZERBAIJANI SOCCER TEAM PRECIPITATES CHILL IN RELATIONS WITH
TURKEY

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has informed Azerbaijani
Ambassador Mehmet Nevrozoglu of Ankara's displeasure at the
decision to locate a training camp for the Azerbaijani
national soccer team in the Greek sector of Cyprus, according
to "Hurriyet" on 14 March. Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliyev
summoned the team back to Baku, where the Youth and Sports
Ministry termed the incident "a disappointing mistake,"
according to Interfax. LF

AZERBAIJAN, TURKMENISTAN PLEDGE TO RESOLVE CASPIAN DISPUTE

In a telephone conversation on 16 March, Presidents Aliyev and
Saparmurat Niyazov agreed to instruct the working groups
charged with finding a compromise agreement to the two
countries' dispute over ownership of Caspian oil fields to
expedite the drafting of the appropriate documents for
signing next month, Russian agencies reported. Those
documents will specify the precise location of the dividing
line between the two countries' respective sectors of the
Caspian and clarify ownership of the Chirag and Azeri fields,
to which both countries lay claim. A decision on the median
line delineating the two countries' sectors of the sea is a
precondition for construction of the planned Trans-Caspian
gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan. LF

KAZAKHSTAN'S PREMIER SAYS ECONOMIC SITUATION 'NOT SIMPLE'

Nurlan Balgimbayev, addressing an expanded session of the
government on 16 March, said the economic situation in the
country is "not simple," noting that industrial output in the
country fell 5 percent in the first two months of 1999,
Interfax reported. Balgimbayev said oil refining at the
Atyrau and Pavlodar plants decreased owing to a shortage of
raw materials. He also identified tax collection as a
problem: in 1998 only 89.3 percent of taxes were collected,
and on the basis of figures for early 1999, it is estimated
that the figure will drop to 78.9 percent for this year. The
premier added that in a survey of 38 major industrial
enterprises put "under management of foreign and domestic
investors," only one in four improved its economic and
financial performance last year. BP

KAZAKHSTAN'S FORMER PREMIER CRITICIZES TENGIZ OIL DEAL

Akezhan Kazhegeldin has called the deal between the U.S. oil
company Chevron and Kazakhstan "ill-conceived and
unprofitable," according to the weekly "XXI Vek," cited by
Interfax on 15 March. Kazhegeldin said when the contract was
signed in 1993, Chevron agreed to pay a $420 million bonus
but not until the TengizChevrOil joint venture began
producing 12 million tons of oil annually. Kazhegeldin said
it will be a long time before this quota is reached. He noted
that in 1996, when he was prime minister, he sold off 25
percent of Kazakhstan's stake in the Tengiz project to
another U.S. oil company, Mobil, for $1.1 billion, which was
transferred to Kazakhstan's foreign account immediately. BP

ANOTHER 30 SUSPECTS IN TASHKENT BOMBING ARRESTED IN
KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakhstan's police say they have apprehended 30
more ethnic Uzbeks in Taldy Kurgan and Almaty who are
believed to be members of a group called Uzbekistan Islam
Haraketi, RFE/RL correspondents in Almaty reported on 17
March. Police say all the detainees have Kyrgyz passports.
Moreover, some of the group escaped to Turkey, Pakistan, and
the United Arab Emirates before police could arrest them. BP

UZBEKISTAN RESUMES GAS SHIPMENTS TO KYRGYZSTAN

An official
at the state company Kyrgyzgaz told RFE/RL correspondents in
Bishkek on 16 March that Uzbekistan is again sending supplies
of natural gas to Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan greatly reduced
supplies of gas on 12 March creating shortages of energy
areas in northern Kyrgyzstan, including the capital, Bishkek.
BP

UZBEK, TURKISH PRESIDENTS ATTEND OPENING OF SAMARKAND CAR
PLANT...

Islam Karimov and Suleyman Demirel attended the
opening ceremonies of the joint-venture automotive plant
Samkochavto in Samarkand on 16 March, Interfax reported. The
plant will produce 5,000 vehicles annually. Turkey's Koc
Holding company built the $65 million plant and is co-owner.
It is the second automotive assembly plant to open in
Uzbekistan. The UzDaewooAvto plant in Andijan began operating
in 1996 and has an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles. BP

...WHILE DEMIREL SAYS UZBEK OPPOSITION LEADER NOT TO RETURN
TO TURKEY

At the Samkochavto opening ceremony, Demirel said
Uzbek anti-government forces will not find refuge in Turkey,
AP reported. "Islam Karimov's enemies are my enemies,"
Demirel stressed. According to RFE/RL correspondents in
Samarkand, Demirel said Mohammed Solih, whom Uzbek
authorities have named as an organizer of the February
bombings in Tashkent, is not in Turkey and will not be
allowed to return there. Solih has resided in Turkey from
time to time since fleeing Uzbekistan in 1993. BP

IMF INCLINED TO RESUME LENDING TO UKRAINE

The IMF on 16
March praised Ukraine for its progress in fiscal and
structural reforms. An IMF statement said the fund's board is
scheduled to meet by the end of March to discuss resuming its
$2.2 billion loan to Ukraine. "IMF management has decided to
propose to the executive board to resume financial assistance
to Ukraine," the statement added. The IMF approved the loan
in September 1998, but after disbursing $300 million it
suspended further tranches because of the slow pace of reform
and poor economic performance. JM

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT FAILS TO LAUNCH IMPEACHMENT OF KUCHMA

The 450-seat Supreme Council on 16 March voted by 160 to 57
to begin impeaching President Leonid Kuchma but fell 66 votes
short of the majority required for the bill to pass, AP
reported. The Communists, who initiated the impeachment
motion, said Kuchma should be ousted for his refusal to sign
a law on local government that lawmakers passed one year ago
by overriding a presidential veto. Kuchma argues that the
parliament violated house voting procedures in overriding his
veto. Commentators say Kuchma is reluctant to approve the law
because it would reduce the authority of presidential
representatives in the oblasts. JM

KUCHMA CALLS FOR SUMMIT ON MOLDOVA'S TRANSDNIESTER REGION

The Ukrainian president on 16 March called for Russia,
Ukraine, and Moldova to take part in a summit later this year
to discuss the normalization of relations between Moldova and
its separatist Transdniester region, Reuters reported. Kuchma
proposed the summit during a meeting with Transdniester
leader Igor Smirnov in Kyiv. Kuchma's spokesman said Ukraine
hopes that Russian President Boris Yeltsin will also take
part in the summit. JM

BELARUSIAN PARTIES WARNED AGAINST PURSUING PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS

The Justice Ministry has warned two leading
opposition parties, the Belarusian Popular Front and the
United Civic Party, as well as a human rights group, the
Belarusian Helsinki Committee, against taking part in the
presidential election campaign organized by the opposition
Supreme Soviet, RFE/RL's Belarusian Service reported on 16
March. The ministry cautions that the groups may be denied
registration if they continue their "anti-constitutional
activities" in the campaign. JM

RUSSIA URGES ESTONIA TO TRY ALLEGED NAZI CRIMINALS

Following
the second conviction in Estonia on charges of involvement in
Stalin-era deportations (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 March
1999), Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin
has urged Tallinn to try Nazi war criminals as well, in order
to avoid "the politicization of trials and double standards,"
BNS reported on 16 March. "In this connection, I would like
to recall that members of SS units who took part in
repressions against the civilian population during World War
II are still walking around free in Estonia," Rakhmanin said.
Estonian law-enforcement agencies have said there are no Nazi
war criminals in Estonia. The dozens of veterans of the
Waffen SS units who still live in Estonia were conscripted to
fight on the Russian front alongside German troops toward the
end of the war. The Nuremberg Military Tribunal branded the
SS, together with the Waffen SS, "a criminal organization"
but exonerated those men who were forced to join the Waffen
SS and did not commit crimes against humanity. JC

16 MARCH EVENTS PASS WITHOUT INCIDENT...

Several hundred
veterans of the Latvian Waffen SS Legion marched through Riga
on 16 March, Latvia's Soldiers Day. A crowd of up to 5,000
onlookers was composed largely of supporters, RFE/RL's
Latvian Service reported. At a counter-demonstration
organized by mainly Russian-speakers in downtown Riga, a
group of extreme Russian nationalists who had spontaneously
joined the demonstration attached a large portrait of Josef
Stalin to balloons and sent it soaring above the city. There
were no reports of violence, and only two people were
arrested for minor offenses. Last year's march, which came on
the heels of a Riga demonstration at which police used force
to disperse mostly ethnic Russian pensioners, prompted sharp
criticism from Moscow and led to a worsening of relations
between the two countries. JC

...WHILE PREMIER SAYS DAY WILL BE CHANGED

Prime Minister
Vilis Kristopans told foreign journalists in Riga that the
day commemorating Latvian soldiers will be changed from 16
March, LETA reported. Kristopans said that both he and his
party, Latvia's Way, have always felt that 16 March is an
"inappropriate date" to remember Latvian soldiers. He pointed
out 11 November is recognized as Veterans Day in Latvia and
"symbolizes the fight for freedom." Meanwhile, Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Rakhmanin said in Moscow that the
decision to commemorate 16 March as Soldiers Day in Latvia
"can be assessed only as blasphemy toward those who fought
fascism and [toward] the memory of the many millions of
victims of that criminal ideology," ITAR-TASS reported. The
Latvian Waffen SS Legion marks 16 March as the day their unit
first fought against the Red Army in 1943. JC

PROSECUTOR-GENERAL INVESTIGATES THREATS AGAINST LANDSBERGIS

The Lithuanian Prosecutor-General's Office has launched an
investigation into death threats made against parliamentary
chairman Vytautas Landsbergis, ELTA reported on 16 March. The
office said that the letters containing the threats, which
were signed by non-registered organizations and delivered to
the buildings of various Vilnius dailies, constitute an
attempt to disturb "constitutional statehood and public
order." Landsbergis himself, meanwhile, has sought to
downplay the threats, saying they are attempts to "excite
people, disrupt...the functioning of the state, and waste
time." JC

POLISH FARMERS DEMAND SUBSIDIES, BAN ON FOOD IMPORTS

Some
6,000 farmers marched in Warsaw on 17 March to press for
government subsidies and a ban on food imports, AP reported.
"In the EU, subsidies bring prosperity to agriculture," the
agency quoted one demonstrator as saying. The protest was the
first since farmers lifted their road blockades on 9 February
after entering negotiations with the government on
alleviating farmers' debts and subsidizing meat, grain, and
dairy products. JM

POLISH ARMY CRITICIZED FOR POOR HYGIENE, HAZING

The Supreme
Audit Chamber on 15 March issued a report saying that the
Polish military suffers from poor hygiene, hazing, and low
intelligence among conscripts. The report was based on a
study of eight military units conducted from October 1997 to
August 1998. It lists common problems such as a lack of hot
water and functioning showers and washrooms. Some members of
the navy reportedly change their underwear only once a month,
while 62 out of 110 members of one naval unit were found to
have personality disorders or below-average intelligence.
According to the report, older soldiers often force younger
ones to smoke cigarettes in gas masks, crawl on the floor,
and do hundreds of push-ups. Defense Minister Janusz
Onyszkiewicz has blamed the problems on negligence. "Dirty
but in NATO" ran a headline in the 16 March "Gazeta
wyborcza." JM

ZEMAN CONFIRMS OFFER TO SEND FIELD HOSPITAL TO KOSOVA

Speaking at a press conference following the hoisting of
flags of the new NATO members in Brussels on 16 March, Prime
Minister Milos Zeman said the probability of an armed NATO
action against Yugoslavia has increased after the Kosova
Albanians approved the Rambouillet agreement and the Serbs
refused to do so, CTK reported. Zeman said the Czech Republic
is ready to send to Kosova "humanitarian aid in the form of a
field hospital, although it has not been officially asked to
participate in a NATO operation" there. The government has
already approved the field hospital, which would be stationed
in Macedonia, and the parliament is expected to follow suit
next week, Zeman said. MS

SLOVAKIA RESPONDS TO ALBRIGHT STATEMENT

Foreign Minister
Eduard Kukan on 16 March said he understands U.S. Secretary
of State's Madeleine Albright's statement two days earlier to
be not a "crushing criticism" of Slovakia but rather "an
appeal to Slovakia to proceed more resolutely ahead," CTK
reported. In an interview with Hungarian Television on 15
March, Albright said Slovakia is not yet prepared for NATO
membership, which, she added, is "sad." Kukan said Albright's
statement reflects the fact that Slovakia could have been a
NATO member by now, "had it not been for the previous four
years of Vladimir Meciar's government." The U.S. embassy in
Bratislava clarified that Albright's statement was "made in
the past, not in the present tense." MS

SLOVAKIA TO REDUCE TROOPS BY MORE THAN ONE THIRD

Pavel
Bartak, director of the Defense Ministry's planning
directorate, on 16 March told CTK that Slovakia intends to
reduce its military forces by more than one-third as part of
the reform of its army. He said the army will have 25,000-
30,000 soldiers by 2002. He added that the army needs only
26,000 conscripts, while some 35,000 are eligible for
compulsory service. The cut in the defense budget from 2.2
percent of the GDP in 1995 to 1.7 percent this year, the need
to have a professional army, and improvement of Slovakia's
"geo-political situation" and security as a result of its
neighbors' accession to NATO are the three main reasons for
the planned reduction of troops, he said. MS

PENTAGON SAYS SERBIA 'BRACING FOR WAR'

Defense Department
spokesman Ken Bacon said in Washington on 16 March that
Belgrade is "bracing for war" in Kosova. He noted that up to
18,000 Yugoslav troops are in the province and that as many
as 21,000 are in Serbia proper near the border with Kosova.
Bacon pointed out that the army has moved seven of its modern
T-72 battle tanks into Kosova. On 15 March, the Defense
Ministry extended the term of service for army conscripts by
one month. PM

SERBIAN PRESIDENT CHARGES MEDIATORS WITH 'FRAUD'

Milan
Milutinovic criticized international mediators at the Paris
conference on Kosova for rejecting Serbian proposals to
change the Rambouillet plan for a political settlement for
the province (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 March 1999).
Milutinovic said that the mediators "would like to have just
a fraud" rather than discuss the Serbian proposals. An
unnamed European diplomat told AFP that "the Serbs are
backtracking and opening up new issues. These are delaying
tactics." The mediators--U.S. envoy Chris Hill, the EU's
Wolfgang Petritsch, and Russia's Boris Mayorskii--say that
they will accept minor "technical" changes to the plan but
will not renegotiate it. PM

SERBIA ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR NEGOTIATOR

The Yugoslav
authorities sent an arrest warrant for chief Kosovar
negotiator Hashim Thaci to Interpol officials in France,
Tanjug reported on 16 March. Belgrade has charged Thaci, who
is a leader of the Kosova Liberation Army, with terrorism and
murder. PM

RELIGIOUS LEADERS FROM KOSOVA MEET

U.S. Rabbi Arthur
Schneier, who heads the Appeal of Conscience Foundation,
urged Islamic, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic leaders from
Kosova to "find a way to end the bloodshed." Schneier, who is
a Vienna-born survivor of the Holocaust, said to a group of
religious leaders from Kosova and Austrian dignitaries in the
Austrian capital on 16 March that "peace has to be promoted
from the top down, but it grows and it is nurtured from the
bottom up." Schneier told the BBC that he recognizes that the
conflict in Kosova is not religious in nature, but he
stressed that religious leaders can influence their
followers' attitudes toward questions of war and peace. He
noted that this is the first time that the leaders of the
three communities have met face-to-face. The conference will
end on 18 March, "Die Presse" reported. PM

ALBANIA POLITICIANS WELCOME KOSOVARS' DECISION TO SIGN
AGREEMENT

Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha issued a
statement in Tirana on 16 March calling the Kosovars'
decision to sign the Rambouillet accord a "great turning
point in the history of all Albanians" (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 16 March 1999). He added that if Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic does not sign the agreement, he
will have to face "the entire potential of NATO because he
has caused many great tragedies in the Balkans." Socialist
Party Secretary Gramoz Ruci told a press conference that
"with the signing of the agreement, the future of Kosova is
not in the hands of [the Kosovars but in those of the
international community. The Kosovars] have done their job."
Presidential adviser Prec Zogaj stressed that "the ball is
now in the Serbs' camp." Parliamentary speaker Skender
Gjinushi expressed hope that "the agreement [will] also
contribute to the relaxation of tensions in Albania," dpa
reported. FS

ALBANIA REPORTS NEW BORDER INCIDENTS

Yugoslav soldiers shot
and injured an Albanian shepherd about 60 meters inside
Albanian territory on 16 March, Albanian Television reported.
The broadcast added that the situation in the area is still
tense. Army and police forces remain on high alert along the
border with Kosova. In a separate incident, a group of
Yugoslav soldiers entered about 50 meters inside Albanian
territory in the same area and then withdrew, dpa reported.
FS

U.S. CRITICISES ALBANIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT AS 'LACKING'

The
annual U.S. State Department human rights report on Albania,
released in Tirana on 16 March, said that in 1998 "the gains
in human rights were largely offset by the government's
stubbornly passive approach to basic law enforcement." The
study stressed that "in too many instances crime, corruption
and vigilantism undermined the government's efforts to
restore civil order," adding that members of the police and
the judiciary are often involved in corruption. The report
noted that the opposition Democratic Party is frequently
justified in complaining about police harassment of its
members, Reuters reported. FS

BOSNIAN CROAT OFFICIAL FIGHTS FOR LIFE

Jozo Leutar, who is
the Bosnian federation's deputy interior minister, remains in
critical condition after brain surgery on 16 March following
a car bomb explosion (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 March 1999).
Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic described the attack
on the ethnic Croat leader as "terrorist." Jacques Klein, who
is a deputy for the international community's Carlos
Westendorp, said it is "too early" to determine the likely
motive for the bombing. Klein stressed that Leutar is known
as a tough opponent of organized crime, which flourishes in
both parts of post-war Bosnia. But Ante Jelavic, who is the
main political leader of the Croats of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
said in Mostar that the "highest political leaders among
Bosnian Muslim people" were behind other recent attacks on
Croats. He added that the bombing of Leutar's car indicates
that the Croats are not welcome in the Muslim-led federation
or its capital. PM

BOSNIAN SERBS PROTEST BRCKO DECISION

Some 5,000 Serbs in
Banja Luka and 3,000 in Brcko staged a peaceful demonstration
on 16 March to protest the decision by Robert Farrand, who is
the international community's administrator for Brcko, to
remove the strategic town from Serbian control and make it a
"neutral district" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 1999),
Reuters reported. Republika Srpska President Nikola Poplasen,
whom the international community's Carlos Westendorp recently
fired but who refuses to step down, told protesters in Banja
Luka that "there is no justification for removing Brcko from
the Republika Srpska and there is no justification in
replacing legitimate, elected officials." "Oslobodjenje" of
17 March quoted Biljana Plavsic, who is Poplasen's
predecessor, as saying that the decision on Brcko will play
into the hands of Bosnian Serb hard-liners. PM

ROMANIAN SENATE MAKES IT EASIER TO LIFT PARLIAMENTARY
IMMUNITY

The Senate on 16 March voted by 81 to two to change
regulations on lifting the parliamentary immunity of its
members, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. A "simple
majority" of half of the house's members plus one, instead of
the "special" two-thirds majority stipulated until now, can
lift a senator's immunity. The opposition Party of Social
Democracy in Romania and the Greater Romania Party (PRM)
boycotted the vote in protest against the fact that the move
came before the pending vote on lifting PRM leader Corneliu
Vadim Tudor's immunity. Once in force, the new regulations
will enable the coalition majority to lift Tudor's immunity
without the support of the opposition. The PRM also announced
it will boycott the Senate's debates "indefinitely." MS

MOLDOVAN PARTIES BRACE FOR LOCAL ELECTIONS

Parliamentary
chairman and For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova Bloc
(PMPD) leader Dumitru Diacov on 17 March announced that the
PMPD and three extraparliamentary formations have formed the
Moldovan Centrist Alliance (ACM) ahead of the 23 May local
elections, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The PMPD, the
Party of Progressive Forces, the New Force Party, and the
wing of the Moldovan Social Democratic Party led by Gheorghe
Sima (which was recently denied registration by the Justice
Ministry) will run on joint lists in that ballot. On 11
March, the Party of Moldovan Communists reached an agreement
with the Agrarian Democratic Party (PDAM) and the Socialist
Party to run in the elections on joint lists. The PDAM was
the major parliamentary formation from 1993-1997 but failed
to gain representation in the legislature in the last
election. MS

BULGARIAN PREMIER URGES KOSOVA SETTLEMENT

Ivan Kostov on 16
March told the Bulgarian parliament that the Kosova crisis
affects Bulgaria's national security because of the immediate
vicinity of the region, BTA reported. Kostov said Sofia will
support the dispatch of an international mission of
peacekeepers to Kosova if all sides involved are agreed to
such a mission. Bulgaria is ready to participate in such a
mission under NATO command, he noted. Preliminary talks on
offering "logistic support" for the transit of NATO personnel
across Bulgarian territory took place on 11-12 March, Kostov
said, adding that if Belgrade continues to object to a NATO
peace-keeping mission and if NATO is forced to mount an
operation without Yugoslav consent, the government will use
the mandate approved by the parliament in October 1998 to
allow NATO air forces to use Bulgarian airspace. MS

BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN GERMANY

"We expect that the
upcoming NATO summit in Washington will identify Bulgaria as
one of the serious candidates for membership" in a second
wave of integration, "whenever that will be," Nadezhda
Mihailova told journalists in Bonn on 17 March. Her host,
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said Germany supports
Bulgaria's NATO candidacy as well as its bid for EU
membership, BTA and dpa reported. Fischer praised Bulgaria's
contribution to finding a solution to the Kosova conflict. MS

APATHY SETTING IN AMONG ESTONIANS?

by Mel Huang

Lost among the coverage of the 7 March Estonian
parliamentary elections was the surprisingly low number of
people who voted. While some commentators sounded alarm bells
over the turnout, which was officially put at 57.43 per cent,
the press focused on seat distribution and coalition-
building. Why was turnout more than 10 percent down on the
1995 elections? Did voter apathy set in for Estonia's third
general election since the restoration of independence?

There are several reasons why turnout was significantly
lower than four years ago: confusion over the complex
electoral system; the similarities of the political parties'
platforms; disenchantment after the long and lackluster
campaign; and even the beautiful spring-like weather on
polling day. But the main reason was doubtless the dominant
theme of the campaigns pursued by the large parties: namely,
Savisaar or no Savisaar.

The controversial leader of the populist center-left
Center Party, former Prime Minister Edgar Savisaar, has
polarized Estonian politics more than any other single
personality. With regard to both policy and political
behavior, Savisaar has earned the strong adoration or intense
vilification of a significant segment of the population. In
the 1999 election campaign, it appears that the other segment
of the population may have been put off by this polarization
and decided not to cast a vote.

The Center Party was essentially the only main political
force to advocate significant policy changes. In the name of
social justice, it proposed scrapping the much-vaunted flat-
tax system and introducing a progressive tax. And in contrast
to all the other main political parties, including the
closely aligned Country People's Party, it advocated the
relaxation of citizenship rules. These two issues put
Savisaar in sharp opposition to all other parties, especially
the strong center-right United Opposition, composed of the
Fatherland Union, the joint list of the Moderates/People's
Party, and the Reform Party. While the parliament voted to
outlaw election alliances last fall, the signing of a
cooperation agreement among these forces on 31 December 1998
consolidated the opposition against Savisaar's Center Party.

When President Lennart Meri issued his warning against
electing "authoritarian" politicians in his Independence Day
speech last month, most commentators immediately pointed an
accusing finger at Edgar Savisaar. The United Opposition took
advantage of the press obsession over the presidential
warning by launching further attacks on the trustworthiness
of the Center Party leader. In a scathing commentary, former
Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves of the People's Party
strongly criticized Savisaar directly, attacking his "Big
Brother" persona.

To his credit, Savisaar did not seek retribution by
slamming the personalities competing in the elections. There
had been fears of a possible mud-slinging campaign, not least
because Savisaar is thought to be party to secrets about many
of the country's top politicians. In 1995, he was forced to
resign as interior minister because of his links to illegal
phone-tapping and the recording of conversations between
prominent politicians. But by focusing on party policies,
Savisaar managed to deflect some of the attacks on his
personality.

In the end, Savisaar gained a larger-than-expected
plurality of seats, 28. As support for him was consistently
high throughout the country's 11 electoral districts,
Savisaar's proposals for a progressive tax system and softer
citizenship policies clearly found resonance among a large
chunk of the electorate. The United Opposition also won a
larger number of votes than expected, gaining a combined
total of 53 seats. As a result of its cooperation agreement
and anti-Savisaar campaign, the alliance commands a majority
of seats and is most likely to form the new government.

But as the prospective new government enjoys its
victory, it should not lose sight of the fact that less than
27 percent of the total electorate voted for the coalition
parties and that many did so just to keep Savisaar out of
office. It should also bear in mind that nearly 43 percent of
the total electorate did not vote at all. With local
elections due later this year, the winners of the 7 March
parliamentary elections should work fast and hard to
establish some credibility within the country's political
environment. Otherwise, turnout in the fall local elections
could be even lower.
The author is a contributor to RFE/RL based in Tallinn.